My 5 Tips On How To Motivate Yourself And Be More Organised

It’s a new week and here is my new post with 5 things that motivate me when I’m feeling a bit down or I’m struggling to organise my time!

We’ve all had the moments in which we’re running like headless chickens and the time just slips away, leaving us completely disappointed with our levels of productivity. Well, at least I have those moments.

Recently I changed jobs and as a result now I’m only working 4 days a week, meaning every Wednesday I am at home, sorting out my life. Or, at least, trying to! I’m not some sort of a super organised housewife (here my friends and my fiance are laughing probably, knowing exactly how much of a housewife I am…). I do struggle with finding time to tidy up, do laundry, write the new blog post etc. and I do get stuck on the sofa with Netflix on. Totally guilty.

There are some days in which doing absolutely nothing is needed and that is okay. Nobody needs to be permanently busy and productive. We are humans – we need our time to relax and recharge. There are other days, though, that we are trying to make the most of and yet we are failing. Why? Because we’re lacking motivation to even get started. So here are 5 of the things I do when I get stuck and I need to get my work done!

1. Making a list!
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been constantly making lists about all kinds of stuff and I’ve always had several notebooks filled with different schedules to-do tasks. When I’m feeling like I have no clue where to start and the daily activities are just a huge mess in my head, I sit down and I make a list. You all know that feeling when you tick a task off your list…that just makes you happy! So I do put every single tiny thing in the list, so I can check it when it’s done and that way I have a better perception of exactly how many things I need to do. I don’t know if I’m making any sense, but I will give you an example: If I need to clean the house, I will write down all the individual things that need to be done – dust the living room, mop the floors, put away the washed clothes etc. That way I know precisely what volume of work I need to do and I feel better when I tick more things done as the day goes. Another trick, if you’re short on time, is to give yourself specific time for a certain task, so you don’t get sucked into hours and hours of doing the same thing and neglecting others that need to be done. Example: Cleaning for 1 hour. Set yourself a timer on your phone and start cleaning. Don’t do anything else in that one hour, just clean. When it’s done, it’s done! Doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone, you’re moving on to the next thing on the list!

2. Listen to/Watch a motivational YouTube video
This is something I do while tidying up the house, putting my make-up on, doing laundry etc. I just play something either on my phone or on the TV and just listen to it while doing my daily tasks. Not only you learn some new things, but you also get some useful tips from other people on topics that are interesting for you. For example, sometimes I watch videos by The Financial Diet as they have amazing ideas in regards to managing your finances (as the name suggests, duh!), sometimes I chose ClutterBug as she is fabulous in her organisation tips and tricks and that helps me be more efficient with my housewife-y stuff, or sometimes I just watch some of my favourite beauty gurus.

3. Social Media!
I know, usually social media is what makes us feel bad about ourselves because we’re observing other people’s awesome lives, whatever, whatever…I’ve said it before and I will say it again – you CAN use social media in a positive way to remind yourself of your goals and to gain inspiration! Yes, you will lose 10-15 minutes scrolling down the Instagram feed or Pinterest, but you will see other people who have achieved what you want to achieve and, at least in my case, that gives me a kick-start – I better start working so I can be as successful as this person, or so I can arrange a trip to this place, or so I can try out this product… It all depends on the way you see things. I chose to see the “perfect” social media posts not as something that will make me feel bad about my life, but as something to inspire me to achieve new goals!Speaking of perfect social media posts, I was considering whether to change my clothes and do my hair and make up before taking the photos…then I decided that if I’m doing a post about finding motivation and the occasional lack of it, you should see me in my actual home clothes, with my unbrushed hair, the living room with boxes of deliveries and the kitchen before tidying it up. Because nothing is always picture perfect!

4. Music!
Everything is better when you have the right tune! It might sound like a cliché, but good music always cheers me up and makes me want to move around, dance…and potentially get on with whatever I need to do. At home we have the handy Amazon Echo, which (apart from driving me mad occasionally) plays whatever song I want to listen to just with a simple voice command (NOT sponsored, btw! 😀 ). Perfect for when you’re running around the house and can’t be bothered to go change the music or look for a different song. Actually, the Echo has a lot of cool functions, but if you’re curious, let me know and I will make a separate post about it and what we use it for in the house (except for arguing with it when you ask it to switch on the lights and it tells you the weather in Zambia instead).

5.The Five Minute Journal
I’ve talked about it before and I’m going to mention it again. It really does help to set your mind towards finding the positivity in your life! Whether I’m writing in it every day? No. But I use it on those gloomy days when I don’t want to get out of bed and I need a little kick to appreciate what I already have and to strive for more!